Rower on the Ganga

Flotilla at rest
On the quiet river
In the grey cool morning

A few boats rock
As tourists clamber aboard
Laughter and photographs

As my camera surveys the scene
One boat begins to move
Oars dipping, splashing

I find frame on the boat
Zooming out; zooming in
Click a few exposures

Of a boatful of tourists
Moving through a flotilla
Of empty boats

Back at the guesthouse
Editing the photograph
I realize

The moment was not about the boats
The moment was not about one boat moving
The moment was not about tourists laughing

The moment was about
One man rowing
With all the intensity of an Olympian

And I am glad for a camera
Able to record all the pixels
I did not need

With enough pixels left over
To crop down to just the pixels
Which I did need